Thank you everyone for all your considered responses. Wonderful!
I have actually found my answer in Bernadette Brady's book, the Eagle and the Lark. Amazing book! It's been a book I've turned to time and time again over the years. I actually attended one of Bernadette's workshops at UAC in 2002. She's one amazing astrologer, that's for sure.
She gives exact answers to this retrograde question I have you posed to you. If you have the book, check out page 81 -82. Orbs of transits.
In her experience, " if a planet approaches another planet, comes within 13 minutes of arc, but then retrogrades before becoming exact, then the person does not start to feel that transit at that time. The planet must come within 12 minutes of arc before its effects can be felt."
Exceptions are 1) Saturn. "When Saturn changes direction and commences its movement towards the natal point, then that is the commencement of the transit." So, for example, when Saturn turns direct at say 5 Aries, and your Sun is at 15 Aries, you're going to feel Saturn right when it turns direct at 5 Aries.
Exception 2) "Uranus transits are precise and events usually happen on the day of exactness."
I have found that this is true with Saturn transits in my experiences. And also with Uranus transits as well. Uranus came within half a degree of my Sun, and I felt nothing and experienced nothing Uranian in my life at all. My dad got his cancer diagnosis the day that uranus conjuncted his moon.
So, with my question, Pluto turns retrograde at exactly 13 minutes of arc BEFORE it hits my Sun and Moon and Asc. According to Bernadette, I will not feel this until Pluto comes around the following year and actually conjuncts the planet, along with Saturn. Pluto and Saturn team up at that point and both will conjunct my sun and square my moon. I'm sure I will feel those then, and we will see what transpires.
Of course everyone is going to have their own experiences and she acknowledges this. There are always exceptions, and these are good starting points she says.
However, she answered my question. Because her treatise on orbs regarding saturn and uranus have been so absolutely accurate in my life, i tend to believe that this orb will happen with the pluto and saturn transit as well. I will obviously feel the Saturn as it turns direct, way before I feel the pluto. I will see how this plays out when it actually happens and I will report back.
barbh